Ford Expects to Lose Market Share

By David Patton

Ford‘s head of North American operations says the company’s sales and market share are sure to tumble in the U.S. in 2007, but the auto maker’s hope for the year is that sales do go up in segments where it is rolling out new models.

“What we will be looking at this year is how are our new-to-the-market products doing. The Edge, the Focus the Super Duty pickup. Are they growing our share of the segment? That’s the focus,” said Mark Fields, president of Ford North America. “How are they being accepted in the marketplace?”

Unlike last year, when Mr. Fields and Ford laid out a public goal of slowing their market-share losses, the company is making no such public pronouncements this year. Ford’s market share slipped in the U.S. again in 2006.

Mr. Fields, like most auto executives, is forecasting total U.S. auto sales to slip in 2007, from about 16.55 million in 2006 to 16.4 million or less. He said he is also worried about new-vehicle pricing, saying “I see more downside risk to pricing because I think some companies will try to keep their sales going and will chase share, which can lose you a lot of money.” – Jeffrey McCracken

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The car industry, particularly Detroit’s GM, Ford and Chrysler, is going through a time of significant change and upheaval. Keep track of the latest news with dispatches from the reporters in WSJ’s Detroit bureau. Please post your comments on the blog, or email us at autoshow@wsj.com.